Pa` la Calle con Oscar: Join 35 Mujeres NYC to Start to Celebrate Oscar López Rivera’s Upcoming Release!
35 Mujeres NYC will be returning to Times Square Plaza on Sunday, January 29th to celebrate the upcoming release of Puerto Rican political prisoner Oscar López Rivera. We invite musicians and community allies from the tri-state area to join us on this special occasion. Click here to RSVP.
On January 17, 2017, President Barack Obama commuted Oscar’s sentence and scheduled a release date of May 17, 2017. The historic victory is due to the persistent efforts of Oscar’s family and legal team, and was fueled by the passion of tens of thousands of people who campaigned for him throughout Puerto Rico and the United States.
Last December, 108,413 people signed a White House petition for his release. Many prominent figures also lobbied for López Rivera’s freedom, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Pope Francis; Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro; former U.S. president Jimmy Carter; San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz; U.S. Congressman Luis Gutiérrez; U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders; NYS Assemblyman Jose Rivera; NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito; former Governor of Puerto Rico Alejandro García Padilla, and many other elected officials. The president of the Committee for Puerto Rico at the United Nations, Olga Sanabria Dávila initiated a hunger strike on January 1st to draw attention to the case.
35 Mujeres NYC is a group of women from New York City committed to securing Oscar López Rivera’s freedom. We hold monthly rallies for 35 minutes on the last Sunday of every month from 4:00 – 4:35pm to signify the 35 years that Oscar has been imprisoned in federal penitentiaries, and will continue to hold monthly rallies until he is released. Our rallies coincide with the 35 x Oscar monthly rally that will occur at the same date and time in San Juan, Puerto Rico which are organized and held by 35 women who initiated these public rallies three years ago to mark Oscar’s 32nd year of imprisonment.
Oscar López Rivera is a 74-year old Vietnam veteran who was charged with the mental crime of seditious conspiracy – the same as former South African President and anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela – for fighting for the independence of Puerto Rico. Oscar is the longest held Puerto Rican political prisoner in the history of the nation’s independence movement.
WHEN:
Sunday, January 29th
4:00 pm to 4:35 pm
WHERE:
44th Street at Times Square
bet. Broadway & 7th Avenue
(South Side)
DIRECTIONS:
Subway: 1, 2, 3, A, C, F, N, Q, or R Train to 42nd Street/Times Square